Rag Quilt

When my daughter was born I became one of those women that wants to talk about her baby all the time.
all. the. time.
When she was just a few weeks old I was invited (through babycenter) to join an MSN chat group. It was called May Babies, because all of the mommies that were part of the group had little ones that were born in either April, May or June of the same year.
I joined and formed some very strong friendships.  We are spread across the country, but I've met several members on vacations.  We've been with each other through a lot, and some of these women have done wonderful things for me over the years!
One of our members is pregnant right now - (actually, several are. always!)
and she's having her first girl after 2 boys.
It's been a difficult pregnancy and I wanted to make her something.

A few weeks ago I went to a little boutique and saw the most amazing blanket.
It was so shabby chic...squeal worthy, for sure.
I had to make one.

It's called a rag quilt, and though I searched online I couldn't find a good tutorial.  So I put one together.  It's not fantastic, but it's something!
Also - big disclaimer here - I am not a quilter. At all.  So this is actually a tutorial for my backwards way of making this quilt which is really, really not how the pro's do it.

Choose your fabrics.  I picked these 4 lovelies.  Pale pink, green and purple with a pretty floral to pull them all together. The back is darker pink.

Cut your squares.  Online I read that 8-10" squares are best, and I did 8" ones, but I think any size would be fine. My neighbor is making one with 6" squares right now.

Lay out your pattern.  I drew my quilt on a piece of paper and figured out where I wanted each color so that they wouldn't be on top of or next to each other.

Sew two pieces together, then two more, then two more, then sew all those together to make a strip of quilt.
Does that make any sense? This is harder to explain than I thought it would be.

Most Important part!!! Sew the WRONG sides together.  In most sewing you sew right sides together, but these raw edges will be frayed and exposed.  Give your seams a 6/8 inch (or more) allowance.

Once you have your strips sewn together, connect them - again, with the wrong sides together.
Keep connecting until you have a quilt.

I did the next part on my quilting frame, but it can be done on the floor, too.  I've made lots of blankets that way!

You'll want to layer the back of your quilt, your batting (if you are using it) and the front of your quilt.  Then either put it onto your frame (I always need help with that part!) or lay it out on the floor.

Once your blanket is laid out trim the threads that need to be trimmed.  Then cut into your raw edges, perpendicular to the seam, about every inch.

 

I tied my quilt in the corners with pink yarn, because I thought it was cute. This type of quilt does not need to be tied, though.

Now use your sewing machine to sew the front to the back, wrong sides together again, leaving that big seam allowance.
Once it's all sewn up, cut into those edges again.

Now it's time to wash and dry it, which is what will give it all it's charm!
I washed on a regular cycle, dried on one, too.
And it came out perfect.

Isn't it the most charming blanket you've ever seen?  Those curly, frayed edges are delicious :)

I love it. Now I need to make one for my daughter!!!
BTW, she's 7 1/2 now, and our group is still going strong!